Court fines Google France for giving away the Maps software for free

There's barely an Android user out there who hasn't taken advantage of Google's excellent Maps navigation service. There are still things missing from it, that exist in paid navigation apps, like true offline voice-guided navigation worldwide, so it's not encroaching on their turf just yet.

Still, this didn't prevent a French court in Paris from blasting Google with a 500, 000 Euro in damages (about $660, 000) for the simple fact that it is giving Google Maps for free.

Somehow the company Bottin Cartographes, which obviously specializes in mapping services, has managed to file this strange lawsuit, and on top of that convince the court that Google is stifling innovation by giving away its Maps service.

Short of splitting the damages and 15, 000 Euro fine awarded with the judges, we don't really see how the free Google Maps, which doesn't even offer true offline navigation, has been ruled as undercutting the paid GPS apps out there that offer it. The lawyer for Bottin Cartographes, Jean-David Scemmama, had the following comment:

This is the end of a two-year battle, a decision without precedent. We
proved the illegality of (Google's) strategy to remove its
competitors... the court recognised the unfair and abusive character of
the methods used and allocated Bottin Cartographes all it claimed. This
is the first time Google has been convicted for its Google Maps
application.

By the same logic, Bottin Cartographes should sue Nokia for bundling the free Nokia Drive with its Windows Phones, and have an even more compelling case on its hands, since it offers free offline voice guidance worldwide. Google is planning to appeal, of course, and noted that there is real competition in this space, with Google Maps only being a supplementary service.

Stifling competition?! No one owns the ability to map out an area! Sorry your navigation company went out of business because someone can do it better then you. Thats like a photographer sueing google for posting images that are better then his!

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